Salone del Mobile (place)

The name under which the Salone Internazionale del Mobile (International Furniture Fair) is known. A trade show that takes place in Milano more or less two weeks after Easter (this year it was from the 10th to the 15th of Aprile).

The salone uses almost all of the Fiera Milano area, and it is rather enormous. To see it all would take some days of intense walking and gazing. There are at least two souls in this show; one is savagely commercial and professional, catering to interior designers and architects that want to see the new kitchens, bathrooms fixtures or closets - the second one is all about new trends in industrial design and architecture, sometimes very unpractical, but always very cool looking.

The salone, like SMAU, is more or less dedicated to professional operators during the workdays, and overrun by the general audience during the weekend when the newlyweds go to gape at the 50.000 USD crystal, steel and mahogany apartment-sized kitchens (in the sense that they are the size of an apartment).

There is also an extremely interesting part of the salone, and it happens outside the Fiera area; designers, industries and shops organize shows all over town, but particularly in the former industrial area behind the Porta Genova station, where Università dell'Immagine and Superstudio are located.